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Iranian police seize about 600 kilograms of drugs

Iran's police seized some 598 kilograms of various drugs in the country's central province of Esfahan.

The province's Police Commander Abdolreza Aghakhani said that the drugs including hashish and opium were seized in Naein city this morning, Iranian IRIB news agency reported on May 1.

The police seized 519.6 kilograms of hashish and 78.7 kilograms of opium from a truck, near the city entrance, Aghakhani said, adding that the driver of the truck was arrested.

Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Gulf States.

The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometres of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.

It was reported that some 500 tons of drugs were seized in the country during the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 21). According to the official estimates, the fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion. The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.